Exam 2 MGMT-309

What is resistance to change and why does it take place?

When people resist change in everyday life. Is caused by uncertainty, different perceptions, feelings of loss, etc.

What is operations management?

The set of managerial activities used by an organization to transport resource inputs into products and services.

What are the four types of facility layouts?

Product, fixed position, cellular, and process.

What are the various types of goals?

Strategic goals, tactical goals. and operational goals.

What is the concept of satisficing?

Suggests that rather than conducting an exhaustive search for the best possible alternative, decision makers tend to search only until they identify an alternative that meets some minimum standard of efficiency.

What's an operational plan?

Focuses on carrying out tactical plans to achieve operational goals. Developed by middle - and lower level managers.

What is Computer Assisted Manufacturing (CAM)?

Technology that relies on computers to design or manufacture products.

What are the various models for decision making?

The classical model, the rational decision making process, the administrative model.

What is a contingency plan?

The determination of alternative courses of action if an intended plan of action is unexpectedly disrupted or rendered inappropriate.

If the company uses Porter's cost leadership strategy, what should marketing and sales emphasize?

The good value of the company's products

What does the concept of scope mean?

The range of markets in which an organization will compete.

What is a product layout best used for?

appropriate when large quantities of a single product are needed.

What is a prospector strategy?

encourages creativity to seek out new market opportunities and to take risks; develops flexibility to meet changing market conditions

A fast-food business modifies its menu substantially in the different countries where it opens restaurants, as well as accommodating different expectations regarding customer service. This company probably uses what kind of strategy?

multidomestic

One of the corporation's businesses has a core competency in developing artificial intelligence (AI) that handles very complex scheduling, such as airline scheduling. Analysts forecast that businesses and governments will be looking to put this type of AI-enabled software to a wide range of new uses over the next decade. Based on this information, which corporate-level strategy would you lean toward?

related diversification strategy

What is a cellular layout best used for?

used when families of products can follow similar flow paths.

What is a fixed-position layout best used for?

used when the organization is creating a few very large and complex products.

What's a tactical plan?

A plan aimed at achieving tactical goals, is developed to implement specific parts of a strategic plan. Involves upper and middle management, and have a somewhat shorter time horizon and a more specific focus.

What's a reaction plan?

A plan designed to allow the company to react to unforeseen circumstances that are beyond control.

What is competitive advantage?

A strength of a company. Becomes sustained after the advantage exists after all attempts at strategic imitation have ceased.

What is a just-in-time inventory system?

A system that reduces the organization's investment in storage space for raw materials and in the materials themselves. Orders materials and parts more often and in smaller quantities, therefor reducing investment in both storage space and actual inventory.

If the company has decided to use Miles and Snow's defender strategy, which of the following actions would most likely be a priority?

Adopt a functional organization design.

What is differentiation?

An organization that seeks to distinguish itself from competitors through the quality of its products or services.

What are robotics?

Artificial devices that can perform functions ordinarily thought to be appropriate for human beings.

You are the CEO of a large scanner manufacturer. You just caught a department manager embezzling money from your company. Was the decision you make about whether to fire the department manager a programmed or nonprogrammed decision?

programmed decision

Since its founding in 2002, Crocs has made shoes. It makes shoes for women, men, and children and for casual and work settings, but it doesn't make anything except footwear. Crocs is using what strategy?

single-product strategy

What is a process layout best used for?

used in operations settings that create or process a variety of products or activities.

In 2020, Facebook announced plans to introduce a mobile gaming app designed for live gameplay. The app took several years to develop and was tested with users for 18 months before its release. Was the decision Facebook made to develop a mobile gaming app a programmed or nonprogrammed decision?

nonprogrammed decision

Your company typically increases each department's budget by a certain percentage over the prior year's budget. However, this year managers were asked to consider whether each budget item is still necessary and whether new budget items are needed to meet the department's needs. Is this years budget process a programmed or nonprogrammed decision?

nonprogrammed decision

Every morning when you walk into Starbucks, you order the same thing: a venti green tea Frappuccino with extra whipped cream. You can't drink anything else at Starbucks because you don't like hot beverages, coffee, or black tea, and you like your beverages tall and creamy. Is your decision about what to order programmed or nonprogrammed?

programmed decision

What is strategic imitation?

the practice of duplicating another organization's distinctive competence and thereby implementing a valuable strategy.

What is a tactical goal?

Set by/for middle managers. They focus on the actions necessary to achieve strategic goals.

What is a strategic goal?

Set by/for top management. Focus is on broader and more general goals.

What are the various conditions under which we make decisions?

Certainty, risk, and uncertainty.

What is a professional planning staff?

Can help to reduce workload of individual managers, brings to a particular problem many different tools and techniques, take broader view than individual managers, and help coordinate the planning activities of individual managers.

What is an operational goal?

Set by/for lower-level managers. Focus is on short-term issues associated with tactical goals.

What is the criteria for deciding decision alternatives?

Consider the approach with the optimal combination of feasibility, satisfactoriness, and affordable consequences.

What's a standing plan?

Developed for activities that recur regularly over a period of time. Split into 3 sub-plans known as policy, standard operating procedure, and rules and regulations.

If your team is going to develop a contingency plan for this situation, which of the following questions should they ask?

Let's think about what we should do in the following situations: 1) If we see the same number of students in dorms next year as are in dorms this year; 2) If the number of students in dorms goes down by at least 10%; 3) If the number of students in dorms increases by at least 10%. What different, specific actions should we take in each situation?

What time-frame should the group consider for this plan?

Long-term (Five years or more)

Time Frame

Long-term, intermediate-term, and short-term goals.

What is the product life cycle?

Model that shows how sales volume changes over the life of products. Includes 4 stages: 1. Introduction 2. Growth 3. Maturity 4. Decline

Imagine that you are on the new business development team in your company. The team has been tasked with identifying a prospect list in a new sector. Which team decision-making approach will be best given the need for the team to be innovative in the generation of ideas?

Nominal group technique

Area

Operations, marketing, finance, quality control, productivity, human resources.

What are the various dimensions of quality?

Performance: A products primary operating characteristicFeatures: Supplements to a products basic functioning characteristicConformance: The degree to which a product design and operating characteristics meet established standardsDurability: A measure of product lifeServiceability: The speed and ease of repairAesthetics: How a product looks, feels, taste, and smellsPerceived Quality: As seen by customer

If you are concerned about groupthink negatively influencing your team's decisions, which tactic could you use to minimize the potential for groupthink?

Plan for follow-up meeting where divergent opinions can be expressed.

Which of the following is a question that you should ask during the development of strategic goals for the organization?

Should our company focus more on giving things away, or on selling things for a reduced price to those in need?

What is a distinctive competence?

Something an organization does exceptionally well.

What is a mission statement?

States an organization's fundamental purpose.

What is the rational decision making process?

Step 1: Recognizing and defining the decision situation. Step 2: Identifying alternatives. Step 3: Evaluating alternatives. Step 4: Selecting the best alternative. Step 5: Implementing the chosen alternative. Step 6: Following up and evaluating the results.

What is Computer-Aided Design (CAD)?

The use of computers to design parts and complete products and to simulate performance so that prototypes need not be constructed.

What are short and long-term strategic plans?

Time frames for planning. Short-term focuses on affecting the day-to-day activities, and has a time frame of one year or less. Split up into action and reaction plans. Long term plans cover many years, and sometimes even decades. Most managers nowadays recognize that environmental change makes it unfeasible to plan too far ahead, but plans can still be made in 5-10 year intervals. Any plan that extends past 5 years can be considered long range.